My Jotun Bloodline, Hulda & the Old Goddess Nephesch

אַל-תִּתֵּן לְחַיַּת, נֶפֶשׁ תּוֹרֶךָ; חַיַּת עֲנִיֶּיךָ, אַל-תִּשְׁכַּח לָנֶצַח. (Psalm 74:19)
Give not the soul of Thy turtle-dove unto the ravenous company; forget not the company of your afflicted ones for ever. (words of the old Goddess Nephesch)

My patroness, Frau Holle, the ancient earth mother goddess of Old Fate, snow, spinning and illumination is also know by the names Holda, Hulda, Hel and Hela. As Hel and Hela, Frau Holle is an Underworld and Death goddess. She is also one of the Jotnir, the deities of the Jotunfolk (Giants). I am of her bloodline and she has claimed me.

Afflicted with scoliosis (I wore a back brace for 4 years as a teenager to straighten my back), general skeletal deformities are a characteristic of those of the Jotun bloodline from the Iron Wood clan. My personal history with anger, extreme introversion, cold detachment of personality, and the tendency to "hibernate" in my own space also suggest that Frost-thurse and Mountain-giant clan-bloods also mix in mine. All of these are giants of the Rökkr.

Rökkr means twilight, a liminality which partakes of both Night and Day. It also refers to the Hagazussa (hedge-sitter), a title worn by Hela, my patroness. Hagazussa is the root of the German word hexe (witch).

Rökkr means shadow, the soul, the visible testimony of what exists within. Helheim, the Land of Shadows, is Hel's country in Niflheim. Nifl is another form of Rökkr. The children of Nifl (the children of Hela - the Nifl-Hela) are known in Semitic legend as the Nephilim, the children of the pre-Mosaic goddess Nephesch, the dark counterpart of the light goddess Shechinah.

Darkness is the core foundation of light. Without darkness, there is no light. Light is itself a mask worn upon the face of darkness for a time, until it's life energy is spent. As darkness is the foundation of light, we can see then, how it is that the Death Goddess is also a Goddess of Illumination.

As Hulda, the Death Goddess is known for her transpersonal compassion, but it is a compassion that does not lie, no matter how hard the truth may be to take. There is no softening comfort sitting at Hulda's table - spiritual evolution, not mercy, is Hulda's focus. Yet Hulda's compassion is quietly full, noninvasive and protective - she provides a safe place for healing and full acceptance, warts and all. The monster within, the untouchable, the rot - don't try to pretty these things up with Hulda - these things are holy to her.

The hard healing truth which leads to spiritual evolution - this is what you get from the Death Goddess Hulda, and this is also why Hulda is the prophetess sought out by Kings in Semitic legend.

Life is wasteful, but Death wastes nothing.